2008 Weight Loss Program

Thanks for the tip Painman. Your "Fat Guy chasing a Twinkie" has inspired me.

10,000 Miles - Goal Achieved

2007 Cycling Total: 10,003 Miles, 589 hours

A huge group started from the Stone Arch.

I don't pretend to be the only local rider who piles on the miles, in fact, I know there are others that ride more than me on a regular basis. That said, I came up 303 miles short of the 10,000 mile mark in 2006. With our trip to France being my main motivation for 2007, I also had a secondary goal of breaking the 10,000 mile barrier. It took me to my last training day of the year, but I just pulled it off. I was happy to share my final ride of 2007 with a huge group.

I couldn't have done it without the support of my family. Carla and Maren were supportive all year long, and Jordan rode many of the miles along with me. In fact, Jordan tallied 4327 miles himself. Congrats buddy.

For 2008, my goals and motivation will be different. I plan to decrease volume, and increase intensity. I call it the "Timmer Plan".

Jordan and Painman Play Wii

Nintendo Wii is an absolute blast to play. It is almost as much fun to watch people play. A lot of parents are getting this game system because it gets kids up off the couch. Watch the video and you'll see what I mean.

After Dark

This time of year, I always seem to finish my rides after dark. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday this week were no exceptions. Wednesday, we rode from P-slim's place, and got home around 5:15PM, which was a reasonable amount of riding in the dark. Thursday, Jordan bonked, and Carla picked him up in River Falls, after which, we rode back to Hudson in the dark (with head/tail lights). We got home around 6:15PM.

Friday was over the top. Jordan, Painman, and I started the ride around 12:30PM, and figured there would be plenty of light. Our troubles started right away, with the trail from Victoria to Excelsior being basically un-rideable. It took us an hour to ride the first 10 miles, where we met P-slim. We stopped at the Depot in Hopkins, then cruised in on the Greenway to the River, then onto Dunn Bros. Painman's feet were frozen, and he had a migraine headache. It was 4:30PM, with around 2 hours of riding left to get back to Victoria. P-slim headed back to the safety of his place in NE Mpls, while we jumped on the trail back to Painman's.

It was dark by the time we got to Hopkins, and we decided to keep going as far as we could. We had tail lights, but no headlights, so we couldn't see very well. The trail was difficult to navigate, since you couldn't really make out where the edges were. Plus we kept coming upon walkers and joggers, which were mere shadows on the trail. This made for slow going, and we didn't get back to the 318 in Excelsior until 6:30PM. Painman called Hollie to come get him and Jordan, while I rode the rest of the way back on the wide shoulder of Hwy 7.

It was actually kind of fun and surreal riding through the dark on the trail. It was rather peaceful in a strange way. When we got home, Painman served us up some Pizza, and then we played Nintendo Wii for the rest of the night. Good times.

Jordan's New Bike - Take 2

Jordan picked up his brand new Giant Composite TCR C3 from the Bicycle Chain. He paid for his new ride all by himself, using proceeds from the sale of his old bike, money he earned cleaning foreclosure houses this summer, and gift cards he got for Christmas. It's a full carbon frame, carbon fork, Shimano 105 10speed drivetrain. Zipp bottle cages compliments of Painman, Red Lantern, and Mom and Dad. His favorite Christmas gift.

With his Zipp 440's, it weighs just over 17lbs. Don't you wish you had one of these baby's when you were 12.

Another ride with P-slim

P-slim and Jordan enjoying a hearty post-ride burrito at Chipotle.

Drove over the NE Mpls to ride the Cedar Trail/Greenway with P-slim. Jordan and I upgraded to studded front tires from the Bicycle Chain, and they worked great. Patrick rode my MTB instead of his road bike. A little small, but did the job. Can't ask for more on a Wednesday afternoon.

Jordan's New Bike

Christmas Eve Workout

Maren wanted me to take her Cross Country Skiing for weeks now, and we finally got out today at Willow River State Park. She tried it briefly in the back yard, but to really get the feel, I knew she needed to get on some groomed trails.

She completely exceeded all expectations. I thought we would clash a bit as she learned the proper technique, but she was an excellent student. She listened to everything I told her, and executed brilliantly. Attitude is everything, and she was super positive. She figured it out so quickly, that I was able to ski myself, and she kept up no problem. She kept saying how much fun it was. I definitely agreed.


Willow River State Park has beautiful trails that follow along side the Willow River. We even saw a Bald Eagle. What a perfect Christmas Eve experience with my daughter.

"I'll watch the grassy knolls for you Skibby" Jordan Says.

Jordan has volunteered to join Lunatic on Skibby's Secret Service detail.

Sunday's Stone Arch Crew (L-R: Homme, Master Cullen, Big Dave, Brain, Skibby)

My favorite moment of Sunday's ride (other than the 4 times Skibby was lying on the trail) was when a car honked at us in St. Louis Park as we crossed to road on the Cedar Trail. Skibby say's Merry effing Christmas to you too, just as I notice it's my parents who recognized Jordan, and were just honking hello. Skibby's write-up captures it all. Thanks for the doughnuts Dave.

P-slim is back in town for the holidays. He joined us for a ride in Hudson Saturday, during the snow storm. Treb joined us too. It was just like Christmas.

156 miles (and 1 week to ride them) to go to reach my mileage goal for the year.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.

Loon State Training Camp 1996

Photo circa 1997 (L-R: Al Lindhom, Jimmer, Treb)

I joined Loon State Cyclists in the spring of 1996 after riding much of the previous summer with a couple of fellow Medtronic employees, Steve Schwister and Kevin Tidemand. Steve and Kevin had told me so many stories about spring training camp in LaCrosse, WI, there was no way I was going to pass it up.

In fact, our trip to LaCrosse almost didn't happen that year, because many from the team were doing a more elaborate trip to the Black Hills on the same weekend. Thankfully, the trip came together last minute, and 9 of us headed down. In attendance were: John Baker, Kerry Christian, Steve Schwister, Kevin Tidemand, Tim Sproul, Ron Trebesch, Al Lindholm, a young kid Al brought whose name I can't remember, and myself.

I had eaten healthy over the winter, and was pushing a solid 240lbs at the time. Kerry was a sprightly fellow that got excited at the mere mention of long climbs. When I arrived at camp, I was excited myself, but could see that I had my work cut out for me to keep up with this crew.

Kerry was the ride leader for the trip, and did not instill a lot of confidence in us with his navigational abilities. The very first road we went down turned out to be a dead end. Kerry's initial goal was to find a nasty climb in the area that they had ridden before, the dreaded Cty "S". We went up at least two coulees that turned into dead ends, forcing us to turn around, before we finally found it.

Once we were headed up "S", I wished we hadn't found it. Lindholm and I were left floundering at the bottom of the climb as the rest raced up the climb. I remember thinking "Whatever you do, just don't clip out." I was right on the verge of clipping out when I heard Al clip-out behind me. That was just enough for me to muster the courage to keep going, and I barely made it all the way to the top.

The next day, it was more of the same. Kerry took us on a death ride down into Coon Valley. I fell so far behind at one point, Baker had to ride all the way back down a climb to find me. I bonked hard, and they pointed me on the most direct route home through downtown LaCrosse, while they continued on their hammer fest.

That year we did not have sag support, so I carried everything with me. I remember the guys laughing hysterically at all the food I was pulling out of the pockets, of my tight fitting clothes.

Maren was almost 3, and Jordan was 9mos old.

Congrats to the National Champions

I wish I could have been there to witness Hudson, WI resident Bjorn win a close battle for the U23 National Cyclocross Championship. Photo courtesy of www.cyclingnews.com


Diane Ostenso adds her 3rd national championship, this time, Masters Cyclocross National Champion. Photo courtesy of Sone

318/Stone Arch Ride

Big Dave, Lunatic Biker, Sickboy, Jordan, Jimmer, Skibby, and Brain.

Jordan and I opted to meet Skibby and the boyz at the Stone Arch instead of driving all the way to Excelsior. Frye joined us enroute to make us 8 strong headed to Hopkins. Painman had quite a crew himself, Red Lantern, Kermish, Bernie, and Jesse Rients.

We cruised back into the city on the Greenway, and even crossed the new bridge over Hiawatha. I needed 27 miles today to beat last years record mileage for the year. I hit the milestone on West River Road, across from the U of MN. About 10 seconds later, my bike came apart. I broke a rear spoke, and it stuck out thwacking the frame as I rolled to a stop. I wrapped the spoke around another, and attempted to continue on, but my tire was completely out of true. I got a little ways and then bang, my tire blows. Turns out the wheel was so far out of true, my cantilever brake pad was rubbing on the tire, and actually wore through the sidewall, blowing the tire.

Now I'm walking. Luckily, we were only a couple miles from the Stone Arch Bridge, so Skibby went to get his truck to pick me up. The rest of the group went to Dunn Bros. while my faithful teammates Painman and Red Lantern kept me company while I walked.

I thought my ride was over, but Skibby kindly lent me his rear wheel, allowing Jordan and I to cruise back out to Hopkins again with the 318 crew.

We made it home at least 2 hours earlier than normal. We even stopped at the carwash to clean our bikes. When we pulled into the garage, Carla pokes her head out the door and says "You guys are back already?". Frye, this could be you some day.

I Dedicate this Ride to Lunatic Biker

Shout out to Ray. I thought about you bud all along the Greenway. I don't know how you do it day in and day out.

I busted out my new Lake Boots, compliments of Jim Bell. They performed exceptionally. I've never ridden that long in this cold, and had my feet stay warm. Thanks Bell. I also used my new Subzero gloves, new Climawarm bib tights, and even wore a ski mask. I was cold right at the start, but was warm (enough) the entire rest of the ride.

On Friday, I finally connected up with Baker for the first time since our trip to France. We rode the MTB's on the snowmobile trails. 15 miles in 2 hours. What a brutal workout. I rode home from the trailhead back to Baker's, and on 109th, some high school kid with a "Rebels" jacket saw me and said "Hi, Mr. E". I waived, figuring he mistook me for Neil.

Sadie Hawkins Dinner and Dance

Maren is growing up way too fast for me. She's got looks that kill, and brains to boot. She just told us she plans to double up on math classes next year so she'll be able to take Calculus her senior year. I'm one proud papa.


Boyfriend Luke is one lucky dude, as long as he keeps treating my daughter with the respect she deserves.

I'm coming for you Mean Dawg

I saw what you did to the Donimator. It's on baby!

Winter and Junior Size Cycling Shoes for Sale

I'm selling my Sidi Storm Winter Cycling Shoes Euro45/10.5US Mens on Ebay. Free local pickup/delivery. They'll fit a size 9.5/10US Mens best, allowing you room to wear a thicker sock.

I'm also selling the cycling shoes shown below. Jordan used the first 2 pairs of them for 1 season. The last pair are an old pair of Carla's. Why spend $75-$100 on a new pair for your kid that they will outgrow in a year. $20 each pair.

AXO Road Shoes - Look/Shimano/SPD Cleat Compatible - Size 36Euro/4US Mens - $20

(AXO's have been Sold)

Lake MTB Shoes- SPD Cleat Compatible - Size 36Euro/4US Mens - $20

Shimano MTB Shoes - SPD Cleat Compatible - Size 39/8.5US Womens - $20

From the archives: 1998 MCF Rider of the Year Results

These results have a lot of familiar names, and many forgotten ones...

Place	ROY Cat	Total	LAST NAME	FIRST	CLUB	CAT	AGE
1	1/2/3	156	Flanders	Scott	MBRC	1	41
2	1/2/3	143	Mulrooney	Tim	MBRC	1	30
3	1/2/3	99	Doig	Chris	MBRC	2	24
4	1/2/3	82	Dalseth	Pascal	Como Wheelers	1	26
5	1/2/3	82	Butkiewicz	Kyle	MBRC	2	28
6	1/2/3	80	Haley	Justin	LSC	2	26
7	1/2/3	76	Homme	Darrin	MBRC	2	23
8	1/2/3	58	Everett	Peter	FCCC	2	23
9	1/2/3	56	Koeneman	Brian	LSC	2	30
10	1/2/3	55	Hanna	Peter	So Chicago Wheelmen	2	25
11	1/2/3	44	Larson	Eric	MBRC	1	28
12	1/2/3	43	Finken	Gerald	Squadra Corsa	2	40
13	1/2/3	40	Ostrow	Banning	UCC	2	25
14	1/2/3	40	Harick	Bruce	MCT	2	44
15	1/2/3	38	Carolan	Tim	CLBC	1	26
16	1/2/3	36	Delanoy	David	UCC	1	27
17	1/2/3	32	Beck	Doug	UCC	2	32
18	1/2/3	32	Heng	Vic	FCCC	3	30
19	1/2/3	30	Krawza	Kenny	Squadra Corsa	3	27
20	1/2/3	28	Feirn	Fred	JRA	2	31
21	1/2/3	25	Dalton	Pat	FCCC	2	41
22	1/2/3	23	Skarpohl	Mark	SMBC	2	40
23	1/2/3	22	Henderson	Jay	MBRC	2
24	1/2/3	21	Wuertz	Kevin	Squadra Corsa	1	27
25	1/2/3	21	Fairbanks	Peter	FCCC	2	19
26	1/2/3	20	Dyste	John	MCT	2	44
27	1/2/3	16	Gates	Mathew	FCCC	2
28	1/2/3	15	New	Mike	CLBC	1	21
29	1/2/3	14	Lindstrom	Rob	UCC	2
30	1/2/3	14	Tamminen	Jason	Como Wheelers	2	27
31	1/2/3	13	Becker	Marc	UCC	2
32	1/2/3	13	Fisher	Jon	CLBC	2
33	1/2/3	13	Dickey	Dewey	LSC
34	1/2/3	10	Hager	Derek			35
35	1/2/3	10	Raymond	Ron	MBRC	2	38
36	1/2/3	10	Seidel	Greg	Squadra Corsa	3	23
37	1/2/3	10	Olson	Jake	MBRC	2	21
38	1/2/3	10	Manderfeld	Tom	Unattched	3
39	1/2/3	10	Hedstrand	Jason	FCCC	3	23
40	1/2/3	10	Robertson	Scott	GIS	3	31
41	1/2/3	10	Losich	Carl	GLS	3	29
42	1/2/3	10	Macias	Rene	Uptown	2
43	1/2/3	10	Popp	Kevin	Como Wheelers	3	24
44	1/2/3	10	Haines	Kenneth	Cuesta	2	34
45	1/2/3	10	Lundeen	Frank	Willow River	3	19
46	1/2/3	10	Wenzel	Jon	U/A	3	27
47	1/2/3	10	Rivard	Andrew	MBRC	2	25
48	1/2/3	0	Lennon	Kevin	MCT
Place	ROY Cat	Total	LAST NAME	FIRST	CLUB	CAT	AGE
1	W Open	145	Lee	Susan	SPBRC	3	47
2	W Open	144	Donzella	Bonny	SPBRC	4	34
3	W Open	95	Phillips	Diane	GIS	4	26
4	W Open	73	Zeh	Jean	GIS		42
5	W Open	65	Miller	Kristin	SPBRC		36
6	W Open	63	Riggs	Erika	SPBRC	4	28
7	W Open	63	Gates	Diane	SPBRC	4	28
8	W Open	62	Silbernick	Melinda	LSC	4	43
9	W Open	57	Sundberg	Laurel	U/A	5	19
10	W Open	53	Kane	Christine	SPBRC	4	32
11	W Open	52	Quade-Harick	Barb	MCT	3	39
12	W Open	51	Jacobse	Helen	SPBRC	4	38
13	W Open	50	Mussen	Kris		4
14	W Open	41	Ulmer	Jeanne	SPBRC
15	W Open	37	Davis	Rebecca	LSC
16	W Open	33	Kissel	Carmen
17	W Open	33	Scholl	Tracy	Squadra Corsa	4	33
18	W Open	25	Kelly	Kori	Squadra Corsa	2	23
19	W Open	25	Pruitt	Marla	SPBRC		28
20	W Open	20	Flannagan	Michelle	U/A	3	34
21	W Open	16	Soucy	Adrian		2
22	W Open	16	Strong	Katherine		4
23	W Open	11	Montgomery	Dave	SPBRC	2	18
24	W Open	10	Schumacher	Gretchen		4
25	W Open	10	Thomas	Janet	Unattached	4	20
Place	ROY Cat	Total	LAST NAME	FIRST	CLUB	CAT	AGE
1	3	132	Cullen	James	LSC	3	31
2	3	116	Walker	Henry	FCCC	3	32
3	3	92	Flood	Christopher	GIS	4	23
4	3	68	Seidel	Greg	Squadra Corsa	3	23
5	3	64	Sadosky	Paul	U/A	4	30
6	3	63	Krawza	Kenny	Squadra Corsa	3	27
7	3	58	Thompson	Jeff	L'etoile du Nord	3
8	3	52	Trebesch	Ron	LSC	3	34
9	3	45	Mercer	David	MBRC	4	30
10	3	44	Gale	Brian	GIS	4	23
11	3	44	Melicher	Jeff	Unattached	4	33
12	3	36	McGuire	Chad	FCCC	3	26
13	3	32	Sklena	Paul	L'etoile du Nord	3	33
14	3	30	Robertson	Scott	GIS	3
15	3	30	Woller	Jay	LSC	3	24
16	3	30	Zimmerman	David	Willow River	3	29
17	3	30	Smith	Chris	GIS	3	29
18	3	30	Christian	Aaron	LSC	3
19	3	30	Hulett	Chris	Squadra Corsa	3	25
20	3	28	Pederson	Mike	GIS	3
21	3	24	Dowling	Pat	FCCC	4
22	3	20	Benning	Kevin	Squadra Corsa	4
23	3	20	Kullman	Shane	Squadra Corsa	3	26
24	3	20	Hom	Ray	Willow River	4
25	3	20	Kunert	John	SMBC	4	19
26	3	20	Ferris	Chris	UCC	4	28
27	3	20	Stahlmann	Daniel	SPBRC	5	26
28	3	20	Haag	Michael	U/A	3	34
29	3	20	Powell	Andrew	SPBRC	4	29
30	3	18	Arthur	Huber	LSC	3
31	3	18	Balzer	Eric	JRA	3	29
32	3	10	Musich	Jacob	SPBRC	4
33	3	10	Silvernail	Dan	SPBRC	4
34	3	10	Griegg	Robert	CBRC	4
35	3	10	Donatell	Jeremy	Willow River	3
36	3	10	Kyes	James	Squadra Corsa	4
37	3	10	Ohotto	John	Squadra Corsa	4
38	3	10	Linn	Brent	CBRC	4
39	3	10	Lundeen	Frank	Willow River	3	19
40	3	10	Schon	Barry	GIS	4	28
41	3	10	Loecken	Bryan	MCT	4
42	3	10	Tainter	James	UBS	3	29
43	3	10	Voreis	Aaron	LSC	3	19
44	3	10	DeHaven	Gary	L'etoile du Nord	3
Place	ROY Cat	Total	LAST NAME	FIRST	CLUB	CAT	AGE
1	Junior M	97	Mohrland	Brian	Team Metric		17
2	Junior M	85	Winger	Luke	LSC	3	17
3	Junior M	64	Anderson	Charles	FCCC
4	Junior M	44	Lundeen	Mike			17
5	Junior M	25	Frenz	Jacob
6	Junior M	25	Venna	Tom	FCCC		17
7	Junior M	22	Poelzer	Carl	SPBRC		17
8	Junior M	22	Bradford	Scott	FCCC		15
9	Junior M	20	Agar	Clint
10	Junior M	20	Appleman	Matt	LSC		14
1	Junior W	25	Stangl	Heidi			14
Place	ROY Cat	Total	LAST NAME	FIRST	CLUB	CAT	AGE
1	Masters 35+	163	Raymond	Ron	MBRC	2	38
2	Masters 35+	90	Baker	John	LSC	1	37
3	Masters 35+	86	Dalton	Pat	FCCC	2	41
4	Masters 35+	84	Dietzman	Michael	MBRC	3	36
5	Masters 35+	77	Dyste	John	MCT	2	44
6	Masters 35+	71	Thompson	Jeff	L'etoile du Nord	3	36
7	Masters 35+	55	Spielberg	Richard	FCCC	3	44
8	Masters 35+	54	Asp	David	SPBRC	3	50
9	Masters 35+	38	Odio	Jorge	CLBC		41
10	Masters 35+	36	Casebeer	Dan	SPBRC		40
11	Masters 35+	36	Lennon	Kevin	MCT		40
12	Masters 35+	34	Bernard	Peter	FCCC		44
13	Masters 35+	30	Kamper	Mathew
14	Masters 35+	29	Regester	Doug	L'etoile du Nord		41
15	Masters 35+	29	Tidemand	Kevin	LSC		40
16	Masters 35+	28	Mairs	Robert	SPBRC		42
17	Masters 35+	27	Hastert	David	MBRC		43
18	Masters 35+	26	Carter	Tony
19	Masters 35+	25	Pramann	Dave	L'etoile du Nord	2	40
20	Masters 35+	25	DeHaven	Gary	L'etoile du Nord	3	37
21	Masters 35+	25	Bockenstedt	Paul	Hobby Racer	2	33
22	Masters 35+	25	Carlson	Greg
23	Masters 35+	24	Jahr	Donald
24	Masters 35+	23	Hallanger	Roy
25	Masters 35+	22	Townsend	Charles	SPBRC		45
26	Masters 35+	22	Farrow	Charles
27	Masters 35+	21	Johnson	Tom	MBRC		37
28	Masters 35+	21	Lange	Kurt	Velo Duluth
29	Masters 35+	20	Gasteyer	Bill	FCCC	4	41
30	Masters 35+	20	Andersen	Craig	U/A	5	36
31	Masters 35+	20	Hayden	Brian
32	Masters 35+	16	Dow	David	SPBRC	2
33	Masters 35+	15	Diehl	Rick	FCCC	3	39
34	Masters 35+	15	Jarnow	Dean	L'etoile du Nord		39
35	Masters 35+	14	Jennings	Tom	MBRC		45
36	Masters 35+	14	Wold	Charlie	LSC	3	43
37	Masters 35+	10	Daup	J. Scott
38	Masters 35+	10	Kueng	John
39	Masters 35+	10	Peterson	Paul	MCT	1	35
40	Masters 35+	10	Sandberg	Scott	GIS		48
41	Masters 35+	10	Laporte	David	SPBRC	4	47
42	Masters 35+	10	Beattie	Bruce	L'etoile du Nord	3	45
Place	ROY Cat	Total	LAST NAME	FIRST	CLUB	CAT	AGE
1	Masters 45+	155	Townsend	Charles	SPBRC		45
2	Masters 45+	152	Pettersen	Cleve	MBRC	2	54
3	Masters 45+	99	Spengler	Mike	SPBRC		46
4	Masters 45+	81	Mason	Mike	SPBRC		46
5	Masters 45+	75	Tennis	Tony	MBRC
6	Masters 45+	73	Beattie	Bruce	L'etoile du Nord	3	45
7	Masters 45+	70	Montgomery	David	SPBRC	2	50
8	Masters 45+	69	Jennings	Tom	MBRC		45
9	Masters 45+	58	Grothe	Tom	SPBRC	2	48
10	Masters 45+	43	Johnson	Gary	SPBRC		51
11	Masters 45+	43	Monear	Mike	GIS		51
12	Masters 45+	29	Lynner	Michael	SPBRC		45
13	Masters 45+	28	Storti	Fred	MCT		51
14	Masters 45+	27	LaPorte	David	SPBRC	4	47
15	Masters 45+	26	Sandberg	Scott	GIS
16	Masters 45+	21	Kelsey	Joe	SPBRC
17	Masters 45+	16	Scheel	Steve			50
18	Masters 45+	13	Meyer	Dan	LSC		48
19	Masters 45+	12	Silbernagel	Peter	LSC
20	Masters 45+	11	Lindholm	Al	LSC
21	Masters 45+	10	Anderson	Richard	FCCC		45
22	Masters 45+	10	Thompson	Richard			45
23	Masters 45+	10	Galles	Ron	MBRC		50
24	Masters 45+	10	Weinert	James			50
25	Masters 45+	10	Dunaway	Tom			51
Place	ROY Cat	Total	LAST NAME	FIRST	CLUB	CAT	AGE
1	Masters 55+	25	Schaefer	Ken	G Wheelmen		58
2	Masters 55+	22	Ahmad	Shareef			60
3	Masters 55+	20	Lloyd	Charlie			65
4	Masters 55+	18	Steele	Tom			65
5	Masters 55+	0	Zink	Phil			60